Dear Sir,

Allegations abound of highly placed individuals within the Government who wish to engage assassins to “silence” politicians with well meaning criticism against the Coalition Government. Whereas some people may be quick at rubbishing such allegations as sensationalist, provocative, slanderous and unwarranted, it would be to miss the point for one to wish away such threats, as contained in the anonymous letter, as mere works of a serial psychopath.

Indeed, there is nothing that is intentionally alarmist as much as the admission by the Minister of Internal Security, Prof. George Saitoti, of the existence of a faceless serial psychopath who has allegedly over the years perfected the art of selectively authoring threatening anonymous letters aimed at intimidating Members of Parliament from engaging in proper and genuine legislation. It would be useless for one to be elected to Parliament only to fear for his life or that of his family members. It is in the greater good of the public that such allegations are accorded the seriousness they deserve considering that insecurity in the country is currently at an all time high.

Saitoti`s admission of the inability of the Government to apprehend this Psychopath is in my opinion, an inappropriate statement since it only serves to exacerbate the public`s fear of the safety of their legislators just as it also raises the much larger question of the capacity and integrity of the country`s Security Intelligence Organs. It is unimaginable that the country`s Security Intelligence has been and is still unable to zero down on such a serious security threat. Criminal minds in our midst can take advantage of such threatening anonymous letters to assassinate key political figures in the country with serious repercussions on our social and political stability.

Given that the country has in the recent past witnessed a spate of mysterious murders of Members of Parliament like the late Hon. Mellitus Were among others and considering that a number of human rights activists have also died under very suspicious circumstances, Hon. Saitoti`s explanation of “a serial Psychopath author on the prowl” cannot be used as a basis of de-legitimizing the concerns of the affected Members of Parliament nor will it appease their respective constituents and the public at large.

Of much concern too, is the precision with which the so called serial psychopath makes use of factual and classified Government information in the threatening anonymous letters. This is a pointer to the real possibility of complicity among Government`s Security agents. This alone is enough to jolt any Government into an instantaneous move to forestall any further subversive activities by elements within its security ranks. The Government must institute the necessary and urgent reforms in its security forces to restore their credibility.

The Government must also work hard enough to dispel the public`s fear of the existence of a well orchestrated fear-campaign against political elites engaging in rational and civil dialogue with basic modicum of honesty to the country`s citizenry. In order that the MPs continue to act in their proper capacities as elected leaders, a 24 hour state security must henceforth be accorded to them to guarantee them their safety in the face of such veiled threats. Political intimidation must not be allowed to infringe on our expanding democratic space.

TOME FRANCIS,

BUMULA CONSTITUENCY.

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Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:29:38 -0700 [06:29:38 PM CDT]
From: Francis Tome
Subject: GOVERNMENT MUST COME OUT CLEAN ON THE EXISTENCE OF A SERIAL PSYCOPATH.